The Gnostic imagination

by Nathaniel Deutsch

The Gnostic Imagination is the first comprehensive study of the relationship between Gnosticism and Merkabah mysticism. It includes an exhaustive analysis of Gershom Scholem's views on the subject, an analytical survey of other secondary literature, and a focused examination of primary sources. The work explores a wide range of topics including myth, exegesis, ascent traditions, and cosmology. Although the main focus is on western Gnostic traditions and Merkabah mysticism, the book also includes relevant material from Mandaeism and from later stages of Jewish mysticism such as German Pietism and Kabbalah. Not only is this volume the first to survey and evaluate the history of scholarship on this complex subject, but it also creates new pathways for future studies by illuminating the crucial methodological and topical issues in the field.